Syria’s Permanent Delegation to the United Nations dismissed that the issue of protection of civilians in armed conflict is still being handled with open selectivity and double standards, more than 16 years after the Security Council started regular discussions of this issue.

“This issue has been repeatedly used to serve agendas that are completely in contradiction with the basic norms underpinning the international law and the UN Charter,” Charge d’ Affairs of the Syrian delegation to the UN Munzer Munzer said at the Security Council session on Tuesday.

He denounced the Council’s silence on the Israeli violations of the international law, the International Humanitarian Law, the Human Rights Law and counterterrorism-related laws, saying this silence has embolden Israel into thinking that it is immune from accountability and continuing its policies of aggression in the occupied Syrian Golan and other Arab territories and its support to the terrorist organizations in the disengagement zone in the Golan.

Munzer reiterated the necessity of protecting civilians living under the Israeli occupation in the Golan and other Arab territories, demanding that the Security Council take its responsibility according to UN Charter to end the Israeli occupation and to hold accountable the governments supporting terrorism and compel them to commit to the relevant resolutions especially no. 2170, 2178, 2199 and 2235.

The responsibility for protecting civilians from possible dangers, including terrorist acts, is that of the state concerned being the only authority and party authorized to preserve stability and security in its territories, he noted.

The issue of protecting civilians, Munzer added, must be dealt with holistically through addressing all that might affect them, including putting an end to the unilateral coercive measures imposed by some countries on others, like Syria, which are stated as illegitimate by the UN, and making
UNSC member state abide by the resolutions related to fighting terrorism and drying up its funding sources.

The Syrian diplomat voiced regret that some delegations tried to exploit this session to repeat their allegations about the situation in Syria and attempt to confuse the ongoing work seeking to find a political solution to the crisis in the country.